Best Books for Self-Helpers

New Harbinger Publications

Need help? Founded in 1973 by psychologist Matt McKay and writer
Patrick Fanning, Oakland-based New Harbinger began publishing, right
out of the gate, the kind of self-help books that have since become the
industry standard: inspiring, encouraging, reader-friendly tool kits
packed with practical skill-building lessons and tips on personal
growth, relationships, self-esteem, parenting, childhood development,
stress management, mental health, and every other pitfall-fraught
aspect of human life. Volumes such as The Depression Solutions
Workbook and The Pregnancy and Postpartum Anxiety Workbook
aren't just wishful thinking; they're made to be used. And because this
is the East Bay, some New Harbinger books double as self-help
and non-Judeo-Christian spiritual guides: In The Untethered
Soul, Michael A. Singer invokes the Tao and yoga while advocating
"unconditional happiness," a radical refusal to feel sad. Branching out
into the instructional-memoir genre last year, New Harbinger had a hit
with UC Berkeley undergrad Blake Taylor's ADHD & Me.
Providing a rare look at this common condition from the inside out, the
young author detailed his past adventures and disasters
— from launching rockets into a neighbor's pool to setting
his mother's kitchen afire with eyeglass-cleaning fluid — while
offering hope and, of course, advice.